Constitution of India and Preamble

Syllabus Unit: Indian Polity & Governance

Why it matters

Chapter overview

The Constitution of India was framed by a Constituent Assembly over nearly three years and remains the world's longest written constitution. This topic covers how it was made, the philosophy compressed into its Preamble, the features that make it distinct, and the federal-unitary balance built into its structure — the base on which every other polity topic in the UPSC syllabus rests.

General Studies Paper I Indian Polity & Governance 15%–20% weightage

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Step 19 Dec 1946Constituent Assembly's first sitting

Step 229 Aug 1947Drafting Committee formed under Ambedkar

Step 326 Nov 1949Constitution adopted

Step 426 Jan 1950Constitution commences; Republic Day

1Making of the Constitution

The Constitution was not written overnight — it took a Constituent Assembly nearly three years of debate, working from December 1946 to November 1949.

Learning Objectives

Trace the Constituent Assembly's formation under the 1946 Cabinet Mission Plan and its first sitting on 9 December 1946.
Identify the key office-holders: Sachchidananda Sinha (temporary chairman), Dr. Rajendra Prasad (President), B.N. Rau (constitutional advisor) and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Chairman, Drafting Committee).
State the exact time taken to draft the Constitution and the dates of adoption and commencement.
Explain why 26 January was chosen as the date of commencement.

Key Terms

Cabinet Mission Plan (1946)British plan providing for an indirectly elected Constituent Assembly, chosen by provincial legislative assemblies, to frame India's constitution.

Objectives ResolutionMoved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946; it laid down the Assembly's aims and later became the basis of the Preamble.

Drafting CommitteeThe seven-member committee constituted on 29 August 1947, chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, that prepared the actual draft constitution.

Samvidhan Divas26 November, commemorating the day the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution in 1949; officially designated Constitution Day in 2015.

The **Constituent Assembly** was formed under the Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946, indirectly elected by the members of the provincial legislative assemblies. It originally had 389 members; after Partition this fell to 299.

Key milestones

9 December 1946 — first sitting, with Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha as temporary chairman.
11 December 1946 — Dr. Rajendra Prasad elected permanent President of the Assembly.
13 December 1946 — Jawaharlal Nehru moves the Objectives Resolution.
29 August 1947 — Drafting Committee constituted under Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (7 members).
26 November 1949 — Constitution adopted by the Assembly (Samvidhan Divas).
26 January 1950 — Constitution comes into force; India becomes a Republic.

Key PointThe Assembly took 2 years, 11 months and 18 days, spread across 11 sessions and roughly 165 sitting days, to complete the Constitution.

Why 26 January

The date honours the **Purna Swaraj** (complete independence) pledge — the Indian National Congress, under Nehru's presidency at its Lahore session in December 1929, resolved to observe 26 January 1930 as Independence Day. Framing the commencement date around it was a deliberate act of continuity with the freedom struggle.

Common MistakeA frequent UPSC trap: the Constitution was ADOPTED on 26 November 1949 but came into FORCE on 26 January 1950 — a small set of provisions (citizenship, elections, provisional Parliament, short title) took effect immediately on 26 November 1949 itself.